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£100m Waste-to-Chemicals Site to Open in Teeside

January 31, 2011

As reported by The Engineer, Solvert Ltd, a renewable chemical sector entrepreneur, have announced their exciting plans to develop the ‘UK’s first manufacturing facility’.

The new facility will be producing industrial chemicals from domestic and commercial waste, on Teeside. This will involve advanced biological fermentation processes to produce renewable n-butanol, acetone, hydrogen and electricity from wet biodegradable waste.

The chemicals manufacturer has managed to secure an impressive £200,000 of funding to help develop the project which includes a £100,000 investment from the Finance for Business North East Proof Concept (POC) Fund, along with support from Business Link and the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC).

CEO of Solvert stated, “The current drive within the UK is to divert waste away from landfill sites into, more productive uses – such as feedstocks for other processes.”

“Organic waste, such as spoilage from supermarkets or the leftover food from our kitchens at home and in restaurants, holds immense potential for conversion into valuable chemicals to replace those produced from crude oil.

“At the moment, hydrogen, acetone and n-butanol come from non-renewable petrochemical sources and there are no UK producers. N-butanol and acetone are currently imported into the UK from Western Europe and the US.

“A significant market for these chemicals already exists in the North East as well as other parts of the UK, and more customers from further afield are also looking for a greener alternative to products derived from crude oil. These products form part of our daily lives as they are used extensively to produce paint or plastics such as Perspex.”

In addition, an experienced Chemical Engineer stated, “The fact that we are producing them in the UK and reducing imports is also a huge bonus.”